


The Black Rose (Preview)

by TheNichzPrime



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:35:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25550668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheNichzPrime/pseuds/TheNichzPrime
Summary: Ruby Rose has disappeared, breaking her team into three different individuals. However, what none of Team RWBY realise is that somewhere, somehow, she still lives, but not as they know her...
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	The Black Rose (Preview)

**Author's Note:**

> This one-shot is going to be a preview to my upcoming fic after drawing many blanks on Division: A RWBY Story (I will write more, however writer's block is a bitch) and I wanted to explore a very dark alternate timeline

The dark, forbidding hallways of the Grimm Castle beckoned to the figure. One more step and there was no way back. No way back to the life they held, to the people they loved or the friends they made. One step was all it took to change the figure's entire life. Once the first step echoed, they followed it deeper into the darkness, nothing more than a few cindering torches adorned on the walls to provide the slightest amount of light to mark the passage, the ominous gut feeling being ignored by the figure.

A dark-hued fabric fluttered to the figure's heels, revealing a pair of black soles as it made its steps down the poorly-lit passage. Amongst the darkness, they heard their own heartbeat echoing and a sinister chill pushing them forward. Their will faltered as they progressed, still fighting the gut instinct to run and get out of there. The hunt to find Summer Rose's killer had brought them here, a singular walk that determined whether they would live or die. Despite the growing fear, the knowledge they craved was overpowering that fear. At least, until the figure walked face-first into a door.

As the reverberation between the figure and the door echoed through them, it swung open with some sort of enigma behind it. The figure found itself illuminated by the grandiose dining hall, the tones of black, scarlet, maroon and midnight blue adorning everything in sight. The figure opposite was almost invisible, bar a pair of arms, a window where its chest lay and its face, accented by burning red eyes and framed by bone-white hair. The figure looked out from their own hair, observing what stood before them. They were looking at death incarnate.

"Ruby Rose. Welcome." The voice gave Ruby some serious chills, her curiosity overtaken by sheer, unadulterated fear. The woman opposite looked like it was enjoying the fear imprinted on Ruby’s still youthful features, blood eyes watched for her response. Three other figures stood in the room, surrounding Ruby, one cackling maniacally as it stalked its prey.

"Are you Salem?" She hesitantly enquired as she reached behind her back for a familiar weight she carried for many, many years, failing to find it. 'Fuck, what was Plan B?' Luckily, Plan B came in the form of a standard-issue police pistol, particularly the lightweight variants carried in Mistral.

"I see you're a smart one, girl. Tell me, if you truly were smart, why come to my fortress, and why unarmed?" Salem was genuinely curious as to why. "Either you have a death wish, what with your pretty little eyes, or you want to join me." Salem had foreseen Ruby's arrival, however she hadn't anticipated that the scarlet-hued huntress would be so brazen as to walk through her front door, especially when the dark woman believed her unarmed as well. Seeing this, she opted for a smarter approach. "Take a seat, Miss Rose. Let's talk." She looked to Tyrian, Cinder and Hazel, all of whom had eyed their potential target with disdain, glee and anger. "Leave."

The trio walked from the room with different levels of enthusiasm. Tyrian, the psychopathic scorpion Faunus he was, cackled all the way to the door, pleased in the thought of tormenting the little rose if she turned. "I'll get you soon, bitch!" He sneered at Ruby as he left.

Hazel, however, quietly left, having not seen any reason to entertain the new guest. His large frame made the room lightly shake as he walked, however neither Ruby nor Salem seemed bothered by this.

Cinder, on the other hand, glared daggers with her remaining eye, a newly-ignited passion in her burned away as she restrained herself from ripping Ruby to shreds. After all, for the Fall Maiden, she would eventually get what she wanted most, however this was neither the place nor time for her. "I'll be seeing you, Little Red." she intimidated Ruby enough for her to slightly shiver before she turned back to face off with her ultimate nemesis.

"Don't mind them, I know you're familiar with all three. Though… that also explains why Cinder keeps failing at bringing you in… you are a devious, smart, strong young lady. Now, tell me, Ruby, why do you brazenly enter my home?" Salem purred as she spoke. She knew for her to get into Ruby's mind, she had to get the girl to lower her guard with the casual flattery, even then that was a mammoth task of its own.

"I just want to know who killed my mother. I know you know more than you let on. Cinder even said that when she got herself beat down by the Spring Maiden."

"Who is she?"

Ruby then dunked the Spring Maiden in it, not thinking that Salem would send someone to pursue the lead. "Raven Branwen."

"Intriguing," Salem pondered. She had wondered what brought Ruby here, but maybe she now, finally, truly learned why. Ruby Rose had lost faith in her team. "Where's your welcoming committee?"

"That's not relevant. What do you know about my mother's death?"

"You could ask your old friend, Jinn. I hear she has one question remaining right now and she won't answer anything about what will happen."

Ruby hesitated, her mind raced back to the last time Jinn answered a question, seeing what Salem was, how she grew into a free woman, then devolved into… whatever she was now. "I doubt Jinn would answer me so directly while you're here." Echoed footsteps reverberated through her skull as Salem strutted toward the lamp, hands extended to snatch the prize in her talons.

'Wait, she thinks I'm unarmed. Good thing for pistols. Never again, though.' Ruby drew her pistol beneath her cloak, keeping the weapon out of sight. She lingered for the opportune moment, when it presented itself, before she opened fire on the Grimm Queen. Unluckily for her, however, every round stopped before they could hit their target.

"Surely that's no way to treat your host, Ruby." Salem turned and eyed the small, black pistol in the huntress' hand, surprised that Ruby had armed herself with something lighter and more compact. If the Grimm Queen had to be honest, she was expecting the collapsible Sniper Scythe that Ruby was famous for wielding. "Summer was the exact same, reckless and stupid. She wouldn't bend, so I broke her. Surely she taught you better."

"Never speak about my mother like that, bitch." Something new was bubbling inside Ruby. She had no idea where it originated or why it spawned, but the sheer fact she attempted a heartless execution was more than enough to remind her that she had fucked up. Her silver eyes shimmered with the rage and hate she felt for the Grimm Queen, however she also still felt the pain of her mother's death. One more shot rang out, the bullet stopped just before it could kill Salem, spinning on its spot as the witch used her magic to hold her rival's weapon projectiles in place.

"Summer fell easily, begged me to end her when I fìnished her off. Surely losing her was more than your tiny heart could ever handle. I thought that call James got would have been enough to scare you away."

Ruby fired another round, striking Salem in the arm and forcing the ancient woman to drop the lamp. "Now you'll die, Salem." The venom dripped from her words like the pools of death from newborn Grimm.

"Wonderful. Let's end it." Salem conjured a magical orb, emerald-hued and a few millimetres wide, before she fired it at Ruby, breaking cleanly through her aura and knocking the girl out cold. The pistol Ruby held skittered across the floor into a candle base, stopping in its tracks. As she approached, Salem lifted Ruby over her shoulder. "Such a shame, Miss Rose. I'll enjoy breaking you."

_Ten years later..._

In one of the guest rooms deep within Salem's castle, a young woman, no older than her mid to late twenties, rose with a start, the visions of entering her mistress' castle all those years back haunted her for some reason. Getting out of bed, she walked to the mirror opposite her to examine how that time had aged her. Her eyes took their classic metallic gold shade and her black hair with maroon tips framed her face elegantly, falling over her right collar and toward her chest. She didn't appear to be too tall, with her heeled boots off, she only measured in at five feet and three inches, rather diminutive in comparison to her rival and contemporary, Cinder Fall. An athletic yet defined frame filled in the gaps as she looked at the black hoodie, red blouse and black combat skirt that completed her look.

"Ten years today. Time for the trap to be sprung. Arthur better not have fucked this up, otherwise his head rolls tonight," she coldly told herself, a sinister smirk spread outward from her left side. Little prepared her for her mistress' next call.

"Scarlett, you're late. Get to the Great Hall or your airship leaves without you." The ominous tone in those words implied she meant business.

"Fuck me," Scarlett cursed under her breath. "I'll be there, Mistress Salem."

"Five minutes. You know what happens when someone keeps me waiting. I hope, for your sake, I do not need to repeat what happened to Tyrian Callows," Salem responded. Her image left the ball that floated in through the crack in the door, smoke filling the inside of it. Scarlett shooed it away as she changed into her clothes, knowing she couldn't waste her time. If she wanted to draw Team RWBY, and break them completely, she had to go and see Salem immediately.

***

The Grand Hall was still as dark and elegant as it was ten years ago when the silver-eyed girl came in to kill Salem, the artwork depicted new scenes on the walls and in the windows, one of them now holding nothing but the image of a black rose. This one was Salem's favourites, looking out upon the creatures that inhabited the lagoons, barren plains and cliff sides that surrounded the Grimm Castle. Creaking doors distracted Salem for a moment, an immediate slam drew her attention.

"Slamming doors again, are we, Scarlett? You must be excited."

"I would make the ground shake, but that's Hazel's thing. His mass has grown with the volumes of grey hair he has now."

Salem silently chuckled as she heard this, she knew Hazel was getting old and outliving his usefulness now, and Scarlett had proven herself many times over that she was a much more suitable replacement. Even if she always left those black roses near her next victim's house.

"What is it you need of me, my mistress?" Scarlett enquired, recalling some formality.

"Your mission to eradicate Team RWBY has arrived. You will be going to three very different locations to complete this mission."

"Why three? It's a waste of fuel, waste of resources and a waste of fucking time. You know they're looking for Ruby Rose, so why not draw them to Ruby Rose?"

Salem scowled at Scarlett's retort, yet she couldn't help but to be impressed at her ingenuity. "Language, Scarlett. Do not use it in my presence."

Scarlett looked away for a moment, unnerved by Salem's backlash. "I… I'm sorry, mistress."

"Your plan, however, is brilliant. If you desire to take them to one location, so be it. I will have Cinder put Ruby Rose's stuff together into a container for you to use if you follow this plan. Otherwise, tell the pilot where you want to go."

Scarlett smirked ever-so-slightly at Salem's go-ahead for her plan. She lightly bowed toward Salem in response to this, departing quietly. Once in the dark hallways leading out to the landing pads, her black-soled boots echoed through it. Her objective was simple: make Team RWBY pay...


End file.
